Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-03-26
DAILY HERALD.
Ell HAMMOND.
The County Tax Collector
Leaves Us,
BUr TAKES THE SACK ALONG.
Tn Less than Three Months he Abb
stracts Over $4,000 of
Public Money.

PuDllC money.
Hammond has lett us! The genia
hail.fellow.well.met, El., has vanished
like mist before the morning sun. II,
did not tread lightly as he removed him
self from amongst us, because he was to'
heavily laden with the countrys coin
He was in measure handicapped, bu
he managed to make excellent time il
getting away. Ell. came here from th'
grassy plains of San Fernando, whore h
pursued the modest occupation of {
vaquero, with credit to himself and hi
friends. So expert did Hammond be-
come in roping steer that his Republi-
can friends, of which party he was al
ardent and uncompromising member
thought he was the proper man to rope
S. Levy, the Democratic no minee fol
Tax Collector. Their judgment proved
good so far as strength was concerned
and the vaquero, with a whoop. rode
into office. Last fall he was reelected,
beating by small majority w. b. Cul
len, one of the best men in the county
City life evidently proved too much for
Hammond. He had been reared within
the sound of purling brooks and the
gentle low of the mild.eyed heifer. The
sirens of the city who can sing
low and look mild on occasion.
poured sweeter tale into the
ear of the horny.handed El.. He was
intoxicated with the music and fell an
easy victim. He succumbed to the wiles
of the scarlet women and developed a
penchant for purchasing costly jewelry.
which he bestowed with o lavish hand,
not limiting his favors to any one dam
sci. His peculations-something over
$i2, 500 seem to have all occurred since
the lst of January. His bondsmen are
mum erous and rich, and the county ~ill
lose nothing. The amount which each
bondsmar will have to pay is small. A
deep, dark cloud hovers over the leaders
of the Republican party who swore by
Ell Hammond, and they refcse to be
comforted. Following is correct ac-
count of the whole matter:
HIS DEPARTURE.
When it became known yesterday
morning that County Tax Collector FL.
Hammond had taken his departure for
some unknown portion of the world, and
had carried away with him a large
amount Of money, there were few who
said, "another good man gone wrong"
A careful search revealed the presence of
any number of men who said that they
were not surprised that such thing had
happened, and it was, to say the least.
peculiar that there should have been
left in bank any money at all There
were, as in all such cases, exaggerated
stories floating about as to the amount
stolen from the county, some placing 1t
ss high us S25, 900, but when the books
had been overhauled by an expert the
figures of the shortage footed up to only
about half that amount. 1t is evident
that this sum was taken within
very short time, and did
not cover over so large period as was
at first supposed. The books must have
been straight when he took his position
at the first of the present year, or else
those who examined them were lax in
their duty. If any shortages occurred prior
to that time du ing his former occupancy
of the office, they have not been discov-
cred as yet. Therefore the fact stands
out boldly that within the past three
months or less he has stolen, according
to the experts figures, Sl2, 466. IA.
While it was known that he was
Spending money pretty freely, it was ap.
parent that he reserved considerable
amount for the purpose OF future use in
another country. To have squandered
$l2, 900 in this city during so short
period would have caused an earlier in
vestigation, and this he could not have
desired. Although he was a liberal
buyer of iewelry and other ornaments,
he knew we'll that it would not do to in
crease his purchases, for by SO doing
it would give rise to suspicion that
all was not as it should be. 1t there
fore appears that either he has not alb.
sconded or that he made up his mind
some time since to leave the old hannts
behind. If he did so intend, he was SO
careful of exciting suspicion that he was
able to be absent from the city for over
ten days before it was thought that
there was anything strange connected
with his non.appearance. Some few
days before he left he told his various
intimate friends that he was heir to q
large amount of money or an estate,
and that the matter was in the courts at
San Francisco. He would therefore
have to go there and testify in the case.
HIS EXCUSE FOR GOING.
This he told to Mr.. Roth and Others,
but when he left lis note to his deputies
he did not indicate that San Francisco was
his destination. They last saw him on
Saturday, March 10Th, and when his
chief deputy, Mr.. A. Cobler, went to
the office on Sunday, March 18th he
found lying on his desk note, in which
he stated that he bad gone to Anaheim,
and from thence he would drive to Po.
mona, and that he would return on the
following Wednesday at the latest. In
his note he also said he had sent
500 dollars to his wife and asked Mr..
Cobler to see if she had received it all
right. This he did and found that
Hammond had also made the same state.
ment regarding his trip to her. Wednes'
dav came and Hammond did not make
his appearance. The days passed and
both Mr.. Cobler and Mrs. Hammond
watched aud waited for him. Three or
four days ago Mr.. Cobler's suspicious
were aroused by the long absence, and
to satisfy himself he began to go over
the accounts, first telegraphing to Ana.
helm and Pomona, and learning thai
Hammond had not appeared at either
place. Mr.. Cobler found that the ac-
counts of the Office were far from straight
and he said yesterday that if "fguret
do not lie Mr.. Hammond is shor'
SO, ,994 40" Mr.. Cobler's suspicious were
communicated to some of Hammond'I
bondsmen and these met him at the Tax
Collectors Office on Thursday night ant
discussed the situation. Yesterday
morning the matter became public prop
erty and was discussed on every stree
cornor and in every rendezvouse in tn
city. =,
Early in the morning tn
Supervisors met with Mayor Workmar